Vito's Personal Pan Pizza Pick of the Week - 12/21/07

New X-Men #45 (Messiah Complex: Part 8) -
Usually, the Summer is the time for crossovers. Not this year. This year, we comic fans were treated to two Fall/Winter crossovers. One was The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul, which took place in the Batman Family books (Batman, Detective Comics, Robin and Nightwing). Over at Marvel, the event was called Messiah Complex and it is taking place in Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, X-Factor and New X-Men. If I was giving out an award for the best of these, I'd go with Messiah Complex. If I was giving an award for best art, hands down, Messiah Complex. And if I was giving out an award for best single issue, this one, New X-Men #45 just might take the crown. To go into the previous 7 chapters would take a lot of time, so I'll cut to what it was that made this issue so great. In the last chapter, Cyclops had assembled the X-Force, a new crew of X-Men that all have a feral nature to them...all of them are the best fighters in the X-Universe, and they're led by Wolverine. So far, pretty cool, right? The Reavers, led by Lady Deathstrike, are going after the mutant baby (again, long story) and this leads them into a confrontation with the X-Men. But the fight of the year is between Deathstrike and X-23, the Wolverine clone. It literally had me on the edge of my subway seat. I wont reveal who wins, but honestly...best fight of the winter. Get it now or wait for the second printing...but don't leave the store without it!!!

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JHU in DECEMBER - Appearing This Month

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5
KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND

Meet famed painter JOE DeVITO, writer CHUCK SATTERLEE (Of Bitter So
uls), cover artist TOMMY CASTILLO (Batman), and many more!

6:00 to 8:00 PM

Kong: King of Skull Island #0 and #1 AVAILABLE NOW!








THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6
Enter The ARENA (COUNDTOWN: ARENA #1)


Meet writer KEITH CHAMPAGNE (Green Lantern Corps) and his guests SHAWN MARTINBROUGH (How To Draw Noir Comics), CHRIS BATISTA (Superman Confidential) and JAMAL IGLE (Green Lantern Corps)

6:00 to 8:00 PM

Countdown: Arena #1 AVAILABLE ON 12/5/07
How To Draw Noir Comics AVAILABLE NOW
Superman Confidential #'s 8 and 9 AVAILABLE NOW
Green Lantern Corps #18 AVAILABLE NOW




WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12
SHOOTING WAR with ANTHONY LAPPE & DAN GOLDMAN
5:00 to 7:00 PM

Shooting War:HC-GN AVAILABLE NOW








FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28
iFANBOY.COM LIVE AUDIO PODCAST RECORDING
Time TBA

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Vito's Personal Pan Pizza Pick of the Week - 11/28/07

52 Aftermath: CRIME BIBLE #2 - Focusing on Lust, The Question (version 2.0/Renee Montoya) infiltrates the Daughters of Lilith who are trying to convert people to the Religion of Crime through the Lesson of Lust.

Why is this my pick of the week? A few reasons, so I hope you'll indulge me:

1. Greg Rucka can write - That goes without saying, but what I mean is...Greg appears to be comfortable in any genre, whether it be super hero, crime fiction, espionage...you name it. This week, you can add romance to that list. Greg takes Renee through her paces, and you feel her lust start to take over her better judgment. More on this in a second (see Reason #5)...

2. Jesus Saiz can draw - Again, fairly obvious to those who have followed his (still young) career. From 21 DOWN, to THE OMAC PROJECT, and to the first few issues of CHECKMATE, Jesus can get mood and body language across real well, and when you're dealing with lust, you better have chops. This is, in my opinion, the best comic art Jesus has done so far...and he's only getting better.

3. That opening splash page - Kudos go to Eric Trautman and Steve Lieber. I want my own Crime Bible! Reading these splash pages, you get more than just a "Previously In..." type of cold opening...you get more bang for your buck. You get a look inside a world that doesn't exist. Or does it...

4. More than just a comic - If you've been near Newsarama or Savage Critic or any of the other comic news sites, you'll see that the thread that separates the real world and the imaginary world is starting to fray. Renee Montoya's Diary is real? Where can I get one? Which leads me to...

5. Renee as the Question? Not as bad as you've heard - The benefits of working in a comic store are you get to read comics, and last year, 52 was the comic I read. And in that year, I watched Renee Montoya go from being a capable cop (in the now classic GOTHAM CENTRAL) to a broken woman to a capable replacement. Forget that...she's THE QUESTION, not a replacement. The way Greg writes this book, you feel like this was destiny...and if you read 52, you'd know that she wasn't just groomed for the role, she had to inhabit it. In this comic, Renee almost fails. Yeah, that's right...she almost fails. And that's what not only makes her a perfect Question, but a perfect hero.

Finally...

6. It was Greg's birthday this week. Since you can't get him a cake, get yourself a present!

Further Reading:
52:SC-Comp: Volumes 1-4
The Question:SC-Comp: Zen and Violence
Gotham Central:SC-Comp: Volumes 1-5

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